The Survivor (Book #2)

Chapter 42

When at last I had emptied myself of tears, Charlotte stood up and brushed a finger across each cheek, wiping away any remnants of my sorrow. I sniffled and patted my face, trying to regain control.

Without making me aware of the plan, she grabbed her car keys and sent a text to the boys telling them that we would be going out for dinner, and they should find their own meal tonight.

A vindictive part of me loved that Damon would be left home alone.

We drove a good distance into town until we reached an older-looking part of the city. Charlotte pulled into the parking lot of a little old-fashioned diner that was clearly more modern than they were pretending to be. I don't know what diners in the fifties had TVs blasting sports channels and iPads that you could use while you waited.

Despite their obvious modernity, the restaurant was also fitted with bright red vinyl booths and a shiny jukebox in the corner. An old Elvis song I recognized was playing softly above us and the waitresses wore cute little white apron dresses with puffy sleeves.

"Really?" I askedwith a little giggle as she motioned towards the diner. She opened the door for me, and we slipped under the neon "Open" sign. Thankfully, no one else was in here except for an old man seated at the bar.

"First thing I thought of," Charlotte said, transparently.

We scanned the menu and ended up ordering the same burger with some Sprites. They gave us our drinks to sip on while we waited for our meals.

Charlotte sat up in her seat and folded her hands beneath her chin. Her red hair looked even brighter with the slippery booth behind her and the fluorescent lights above.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" she asked carefully.

I took a deep breath and thought about it. I wanted to share everything with her so she could tell me the right answer, but I wasn't sure that was the smartest thing to do. I took a long sip of my drink and considered, ready to speak by the time I had swallowed.

I told her everything. From Asher and I working on the project and then suddenly kissing to Damon barging in and forcing him to leave. I told her about Damon's hand on my wrist and how I was afraid at the moment but also furious. Angry, more than anything else. Anger wasn't something I was used to experiencing and I wasn't sure what to do with the fiery feeling. I confessed that for a moment I thought I was going to hit him, and that scared me. But there was a small voice inside me that wanted to know what it was like to win the fight. Charlotte's eyebrows dragged down, and her face fell as if she were sad for me.

I didn't tell her that he had called me Bella. But I left out no other details and didn't stop until the story was complete. She thought about it for a minute, and I waited for her usual therapist rhetoric. "How did that make you feel" and such. She took a moment longer than I thought she would but eventually spoke.

"Wow. That really sucks." She said when she was done thinking. My jaw dropped and I let out a surprised laugh at her answer, ultimately coughing on my Sprite.

Our food was set in front of us and as I waited for a different answer or a different version of Charlotte to appear. She picked up a fry and angrily stabbed the air to punctuate her next words.

"No, really. That's really messed up of him." She said, eyes tightening as she considered Damon's actions.

"I think so too," I said, still in shock.

"Well, you know you're allowed to have anyone you want in the house as long as it's approved by me, and you're also allowed to kiss a boy if you want to, obviously." She added.

"Thanks," I replied with tentative awe and a little bit of sarcasm.

"You're welcome," she replied. "I love you, Maya. I'm sorry our family is complicated, and people hurt people sometimes without meaning to. Every family does, I'm afraid."

I thought about Dominic and how I had lashed out at him in the backyard. I thought about how he had yelled at me.

"I guess you're right." I acknowledged reluctantly. "But don't you think Damon doesn't really want me to be a part of the family? Maybe he just had a lapse in judgment when he asked me to stay..." I took some big bites of my food so I could stop speaking and distract myself.

"No! Oh sweetheart, of course he wants you to be one of us! He's just struggling." She said, head angling with a consoling expression.

I pouted, wishing I knew the truth. Charlotte grabbed my hand and said "When their dad passed away, Damon was a wreck. All the boys were. Family is really important to them, and they can be overprotective, for sure."

"Were they like that when you adopted them? With each other, I mean?" I asked curiously. While I knew a couple of things about the Anders' past, there was so much I didn't know. I knew that Charlotte and her husband had biologically given birth to Caleb and then adopted the rest of the boys, but I didn't know when or how. I knew that her husband was gone and Bella was gone, somehow. This poor family had been through so much.

"Oh, definitely. It's not just you, I promise, Maya," she said, pity evident in her tone. She wasn't giving me the answers I was looking for. It was time to press a little harder.

"Maybe he doesn't want me," I complained. "Maybe he wants a different sister." I watched her carefully and recorded what I saw for further examination. Her body became ever so slightly stiffer, and she stopped eating as she considered the right thing to reply. Her face had switched from tender to guarded in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sure that's not true." She replied quickly. But her voice was a little more clipped than earlier, and her blue eyes had become veiled with a secret.

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A/N Just picture the middle two girls in the image up top! Enjoy!